


The Truth is Out There... Right Under Lance's Nose...

by Ninja_Librarian



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 5 Times, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Friendship, Garrison Days Flashbacks, Gen, Hunk puts up with a lot, Lance is a good friend; an oblivious friend but a good friend nonetheless, Largely inspired by various tumblr text posts, Lot of awkward moments, Male Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Menstruation, Pidge will take any opportunity to roast Lance but he's really one of her best friends, Voltroniversary, pidge is salty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-10
Updated: 2017-06-10
Packaged: 2018-11-12 10:45:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11160279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ninja_Librarian/pseuds/Ninja_Librarian
Summary: Katie Holt's infiltration of the Galaxy Garrison under the male alias of Pidge Gunderson was marginally successful. There were hiccups along the way. But her true identity--and gender--were never revealed. Although there were a few close calls, courtesy of her pilot teammate...Or, 5 Times Lance probably could have figured out that Pidge was a girl...





	The Truth is Out There... Right Under Lance's Nose...

**Author's Note:**

> Happy First Anniversary, Voltron: Legendary Defender!

“I’ve got to say, Katie, I’m impressed,” Matt said, taking another handful of the bright purple popcorn-like snack from the bowl. Team Voltron, plus the recently rescued Samuel and Matt Holt, were gathered in the lounge, and Pidge had just finished telling her brother and father about her hacking and sneaking into the Garrison. “Infiltrating the Garrison, as a guy.”

“And never getting caught.” Shiro added.

“It was not easy, I can tell you that much.” Pidge said, grinning as she leaned against her father. “Honestly, I thought I was doing pretty good at hiding it, until I got to space, that is.”

“Oh?” Commander Holt said, arching an eyebrow. “How so?”

“Pretty much everyone figured it out.” Pidge said with a shrug. “Shiro, you figured it out when I told you that my dad and brother went to Kerberos with you, right?”

“Yeah, but it didn’t really click until a day or so later,” Shiro admitted. “Whole amnesia thing plus the Voltron thing.”

“Keith?” Pidge asked, turning to the Red Paladin, who shrugged.

“Figured it out the same way Shiro did,” He said. “Knew Matt only had the one sibling, and that sibling was a girl.”

“That’s really not fair,” Lance commented, reaching past Allura to get to the bowl in Matt’s lap. “You had the advantage of knowing both Pidge and Matt before. And everyone else also got another clue. Hunk read Pidge’s diary, the mice gossiped with Allura—”

“It was not gossip!” Allura said indignantly. “It just happened to come up in casual conversation, Lance!”

“Right, Princess, and I’m a Weblum. Anyways, Coran still won’t tell us how he figured it out—” Lance carried on.

“Pure instinct and a Snorvant’s eye for deception.” Coran commented.

“Right,” Lance said, nodding. “But I’m still the last one to figure it out, because, one, the Pigeon rocks the secret identity thing, and two, I had to go it alone to figure it out.”

“Except you didn’t figure it out.” Keith pointed out. “Pidge had to tell you.”

“I didn’t have all the important information and clues in front of me, Keith!” Lance snapped.

Pidge and Hunk exchanged a look.

“Well… That’s not true, Lance.” Hunk said slowly.

Lance tilted his head to the side, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

“What?” He said. “What are you talking about?”

“Out of everyone, you should have actually figured it out first.” Hunk said. “And, well, I didn’t actually figure it out from reading Pidge’s diary. It only confirmed it, really. Though at first I actually thought Pidge was a trans-guy, so...”

“What do you mean?” Shiro asked, leaning forward some..

“How did you figure it out, then?” Matt asked.

“Lance… kinda helped.” Hunk said.

“I… I did?” Lance said, now looking really confused.

Pidge took a deep breath and said,

“There were a few times where I… wasn’t… as careful as I could have been at the Garrison… Granted, uh, the first times were learning experiences in what not to do when masquerading as a cis boy…”

*

Pidge had been grouchy and irritated all morning. She thought she knew why; after all, she had stayed up late trying to hack the Garrison computers and work on her tech that would give her a chance to listen to space chatter well past Kerberos. No amount of coffee had perked her up, so now she was just sitting in advanced physics, bored and tired, because she already knew all this and it was a waste of time and—

And, suddenly, her lower belly started to ache. She grimaced. She hadn’t eaten much for lunch, maybe she was just…

Pidge froze then at a very familiar feeling. A wet feeling…

Oh. Oh no…

Pidge grabbed her bag and dashed out of the room, ignoring the professor calling ‘his’ name, heading for the boys’ bathroom as fast as she could. Fortunately, the halls and bathroom were empty, as classes were in session. She quickly ran to a stall and slammed it shut.

She stared down at her boxers, the dark green now stained with dark red.

Of course.

She groaned. This explained a lot. She thought she had counted the days right. But yet Mother Nature snuck up on her and hit her in the uterus full force with a baseball bat.

A quick dig through her bag produced the emergency pad that she kept there, just in case. She took a deep breath.

 _Everything’s going to be alright,_ She told herself. _You’re good. You can make it through the rest of the afternoon and—_

“Pidge? Buddy, you okay?”

Pidge scowled at the familiar voice of Lance, her new teammate and pilot.

“Go away, Lance.” She snapped.

“Dude, you alright?” Lance asked. She could see his boots right in front of the stall door. “Professor Hendrick’s pissed that you just ran out. I covered for you, saying that you weren’t feeling well. I told him I was pretty sure you ate the mystery meat from the cafeteria. Which I do not recommend unless you, like, are constipated or something.” He was quiet for a moment, then said, “You didn’t eat the mystery meat, right?”

Pidge frowned, annoyed at Lance but grateful for him covering for her.

“Lance, I’m fine.” She said. “Thanks for covering for me, now go back to class, I’ll see you next period.”

Meanwhile, she had to deal with _this_ period…

“Are you sure?” Lance asked again.

“Yes, Lance, I’m fine, thanks, now just go! Doesn’t make sense for us both to be in here!” Pidge said.

 _Please leave before class gets out so I have time to take care of this…_ Pidge begged silently.

“Well, okay, if you’re sure then,” Lance said.

She heard his footsteps walk away towards the door, then the whoosh of the door opening then closing. She took a deep breath, and quickly ripped the pad open…

Completely missing that the door opened again.

“You know you didn’t answer my—” Lance started to say just as Pidge ripped the other half of the pad open, face quickly paling at the realization that Lance had just heard the sound.

There was a brief second of silence.

But only brief because Lance was in the room.

“SWEET CHEESE AND CRACKERS, IT’S SO BAD YOU NEED A SNACK?” Lance exclaimed. 

Pidge had never quite given much thought about how she would die, but she never imagined it would be sitting on a toilet in the boy’s bathroom at the Garrison, simultaneously dying of both embarrassment and stomach cramps as a gift from Aunt Flo.

“YOU ATE THE MYSTERY MEAT, DIDN’T YOU? IT’S OKAY, BUDDY, ROOKIE MISTAKE, IT HAPPENS TO EVERYONE, DON’T WORRY I’LL GET THE NURSE TO EXCUSE YOU FOR THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON YOU JUST GET FINISHED IN HERE AND GET BACK TO YOUR ROOM AND REST AND HYDRATE AND HUNK AND I’LL BRING YOU SOME FOOD THAT WON’T KILL YOUR INTESTINES AS SOON AS WE CAN, JUST TAKE IT EASY, OKAY? I’LL GET YOU A NOTE AND EVERYTHING, I PROMISE!”

Just as quickly as Lance had entered the room, he had left, leaving Pidge alone in the sudden silence and humiliation.

Well. At least she could go back to her room now…

Lance made good on his promise, dragging Hunk behind him as they brought Pidge some simple foods and Lance stuffed three water bottles into Pidge’s arms and made ‘him’ vow to never eat from the Mystery Meat Monday menu ever again.

“On Mondays, we eat salad. New team rule.” Lance declared. “If you even think about braving it, you can’t sit with us.”

“Sure thing, Regina.” Pidge said, rolling her eyes.

But, really, if the graphic stories full of way too much information that Lance and Hunk then proceeded to tell were any indicator, she was lucky to have really missed out on the misadventure known as Mystery Meat Monday.

*

“You really thought she would eat a snack in the bathroom?” Keith said, looking at Lance incredulously while Shiro, Allura, and Matt were cracking up laughing.

“If I was Pidge, I’d be more offended you thought she’d actually eat anything called ‘Mystery Meat’.” Matt said in between snorts of laughter, clutching his stomach.

“Look, I don’t judge people’s snacking habits!” Lance said, waving his hands around some. “If you want to eat on the john, whatever, do your thing. It’s totally gross, but hey. Same goes for Mystery Meat Monday. And I’m not really sure I should have figured it out from that.”

“No, admittedly, you probably couldn’t have figured it out from just that incident. It was the next day that should have tipped you off.” Pidge said.

*

Pidge quickly tucked two tampons into her bag before leaving for class the next day. She figured those would be easier to hide and dispose of. A little less cumbersome than a pad, more discreet. And she’d performed a test that morning, and the tampon wrappers weren’t as loud or obvious as the pads.

Satisfied with her plan, she headed out for the day, walking towards breakfast casually and calmly.

And apparently that wasn’t good enough of an idea for some people.

She felt someone collide with her back at a fast pace, sending her tumbling forward. She frowned to see what hit her, growling some at the tall, Latino projectile that was sprawled out on the floor beside her.

“What the heck, Lance?” Pidge growled, seeing her books scattered.

“Sorry, Pidge, I’ve got a breakfast date with Annie Miller in the cafeteria and I’m running late,” Lance said. Still, he helped her pick up her stuff. Pidge was getting it all organized when she realized two important things were missing.

“Uh, Pidge, are these yours?”

She froze, wide-eyed, to see Lance holding up the wrapped tampons, looking a little confused.

She quickly snatched it from him, cheeks red.

“I get bad nosebleeds in dry weather, okay! And the dessert is all dry weather all the time!” She snapped at him. “And, and these things are really super absorbent, and act as a good pressure, so I carry them around just in case, so shut up about it, okay?”

“Oh, dude, that’s fine, don’t worry,” Lance said, getting to his feet and brushing off his uniform pants. “My little brother also has these really bad nose bleeds. Like, seriously, he bleeds more than the entire cast of a horror movie. He and I share a room, right? So one night, when we were kids, he got this really bad nose bleed while he was asleep and he woke up and freaked out, so he tried to wake me up to get me to help him. And I did what most people do when they see a child covered in blood standing over them at two in the morning, which is scream so loud the neighbors called the cops. Boy, that was _not_ fun to explain… It wasn’t funny at the time, but now we laugh about it all the time, so, yeah, I kind of understand your pain. Tampons, though, that’s a great idea. I’ll have to mention that to my mom next time we video chat…”

“Lance,” Pidge interrupted, wanting to end this second embarrassing encounter in as many days involving feminine hygiene products and to get her pilot to stop rambling and leave her alone. “Aren’t you going to be late for your date with Annie Miller?”

Lance’s eyes widened and he took off running again, giving Pidge a moment to take a deep breath.

 _Okay,_ She thought. _I got through that. And no one else saw that. And Lance still has no clue. This is good._

When she got back to her dorm that night, she frowned at seeing a chocolate bar duct-taped to the door, a small note indicating that it was from Hunk.

She shrugged and took the chocolate bar.

Like she was going to turn down chocolate.

*

“Isn’t that nosebleed thing from _She’s the Man_?” Matt said, snickering.

“You mean one of the movies I watched a half dozen times to mentally put myself in her cross-dressing shoes? Yes.” Pidge said. “And yet, that was the only thing I could think of. Granted, I’ll admit there was a time or two I wasn’t so careful…”

*

Pidge’s biggest sacrifice for her plan was her hair. She loved it long. Sure, she liked her dresses and the sweet smelling lotions she had, and the little bit of make-up she’d wear for special occasions. Those were things she only mildly missed. She was neither a girly girl nor a tom boy, she was just Katie and that was fine. But her hair… It was probably the most symbolic thing she was giving up on.

She was determined, though, to do one special some-what girly thing for herself during her stint at the Garrison. If she was going to have to cover her pits in Axe body-spray and Old Spice deodorant, she was going to at least make sure that they were smooth when she did so. 

She hadn’t really cared too much about her body-hair before, and never really cared that she looked like a baby Sasquatch in the winter. But, like her true sex, it was a secret thing, something no one would ever see.

Until she nearly ruined it for herself.

She yawned as she stepped out of her dorm and went down the hall towards the boys’ bathroom, doing her best to avoid accidentally seeing the guys in some various stage of undressed. She went straight up to one of the sinks and opened up her toiletries bag.

All she had to do was brush her teeth and then head back to her dorm.

“Morning, Pidge,” Hunk said with a yawn as he stepped up to the sink beside her.

“Hey,” Pidge said, rifling around for her toothpaste. She frowned as she moved stuff aside, not necessarily with much care. She had just got her hand on the tube, when she felt a finger poke her cheek.

“Dude… How do you do it?”

Pidge scowled as she looked up at Lance, who was frowning.

“Get your hand away from my face if you want to keep it,” Pidge growled, smacking his hand. “And do what?”

“Get your skin so smooth…” Lance said. He gestured to his own face, which was covered in a light morning stubble. “I’ve been trying for that boyishly smooth face post-shaving for, like, ever, and it’s not exactly perfect. So, you’re going to have to tell me what kind of moisturizer you use, because your face always looks and feels like you never actually shaved.”

Pidge frowned.

“I don’t shave,” She snapped, focusing on putting toothpaste on her brush. “In case you couldn’t tell by my lack of height and occasionally squeaky voice, I haven’t been as lucky to have hit puberty yet.”

“Lucky may not be the word for it.” Hunk commented from her other side as he lathered his own face in shaving cream.

Pidge ignored the both of them and stuck her toothbrush in her mouth.

Which worked until…

“Wait, if you don’t shave, why do you have a razor?”

Pidge nearly gagged on the toothpaste, quickly spitting it out into the sink. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the razor head sticking out of her bag.

Rinsing out her mouth gave her enough time to think, but her brain just kept repeating,

_Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap…_

“I have one,” Pidge started to say, focusing on putting the toothbrush away. “You know. For when I actually need it.”

“Oh, okay, that makes sense.” Lance said, nodding, turning to his own toiletries bag. “But get a cover for it in the meantime. You don’t want to slice your hand up on it, okay? Don’t want my comm spec to be unable to perform their job because of a stupid razor.”

“Right,” Pidge said, snatching up the bag. “Got it. Would hate for that to happen. See you in class.”

With that, she stormed away.

Well. At least this time she was able to leave with her dignity in tact…

*

“Yeah, that’s when I started wondering.” Hunk admitted. “Because the razor looked used? Still, not really a bad slip up all things considered.”

“It was still a slip-up, though.” Pidge said.

“The more you two say I should have figured it out, the more I’m expecting episode one of _Ouran High School Host Club_ or _Mulan_ shenanigans.” Lance commented. “No offense, Pidge, but this is kind of lame stuff that could have fooled anyone.”

Pidge put her hands together, lacing all of her fingers except her pointer fingers, which she brought to her lips, took a deep breath with her eyes closed, then opened them saying,

“Lance. It might just be that you are the most oblivious person I know. Which is often to my benefit. You didn’t figure it out from those three encounters. Fine, whatever. But I still cannot comprehend how you literally put your hand on my boob and still didn’t figure out then and there that I was a girl.”

There was a brief moment of silence in the lounge, which was quickly broken by Lance screeching,

“I DID WHAT?”

*

Pidge was doing her best to ignore Lance as she snatched up a tray in the lunch-line.

“Come on, Pidge, just let me take one tiny little peek at your notes!”

“No,” Pidge snapped. “You should have been focusing on the lecture instead of Arati Shah’s butt.”

“You know I get easily distracted,” Lance groaned.

“Which is a great thing to say to someone who is apparently supposed to let you take them anywhere out of Earth’s atmosphere.” Pidge said, rolling her eyes. “With that lame of an excuse, I wouldn’t even get into a car with you.”

“It’s notes, Pidge, it’s not like I’m asking you to help me cheat on something.” Lance complained. “This is just you being cruel, Pidge.”

“Yup,” Pidge said with a dry tone, looking over her shoulder to give Lance a smirk. “I’m the cruelest person you’ll ever meet. I’ve got a heart so frozen my pulse beats to the tune of ‘Let It Go’.”

“Ugh, are _Frozen_ references even cool anymore?” Lance asked, rolling his eyes.

“Dude, that was kind of a pun. And, yes. It’s Disney, and Disney references are always cool.” Hunk said from where he was in line behind Lance.

“Thank you, Hunk,” Pidge said, reaching to put some peas on her plate. “It’s nice to be around someone who actually has taste in classic films.”

Lance turned to her and frowned, his hand still reaching out for the spoon to get mashed potatoes.

“I’ll have you know, that I have great taste in movies, thank you very much,” He snapped.

“Oh yeah?” Pidge challenged, adding green beans to the plate as well. “Let me guess, they all star a rough, rugged guy—who is most likely white—who wins the pretty girl at the end, right? With lots of explosions and a unclear plotline? In other words, all three _Sharknado_ movies.”

“Uh, excuse you, the movies I like actually have great, perfectly clear plot—Aaah!” Lance cut himself off as his hand hit the hot metal of the buffet instead of finding the spoon. He jerked his arm back, cradling his hand to his chest.

Pidge kind of felt like he deserved that.

“Dude, you alright?” Hunk asked with concern, because of course he did, that was Hunk’s other official role on this team—team mom.

“Yeah, it’s not too bad, just stings,” Lance said, inspecting his hand.

Okay, Pidge did feel a little guilty until then, because it’d be bad if Lance had gotten seriously hurt. But if it was just a first degree burn, no big deal.

“You should go run it under cold water or something.” Hunk said.

Pidge turned back to getting food, so she completely missed Lance’s smirk.

“Oh, I’ve got something better.” He said.

Pidge jerked and stood ram-rod still as the palm of Lance’s hand roughly collided with her chest, right over her heart.

And… right over her sports-bra covered boob…

_Please don’t notice the boob, please don’t notice the boob, please don’t notice the boob… Come on, it’s too small to even really register in your brain as a boob!_

“Ah…” Lance said, smirking slightly. “Nice and cold.”

Face burning with embarrassment and anger, Pidge raised her own hands, first slapping away Lance’s wrist before angrily shoving him in the chest, sending him into Hunk, who luckily was not thrown off balance as Lance bumped into him.

Without a word, she stormed out of the lunch-line, heading for her dorm for the rest of the lunch period.

She managed to avoid both Lance and Hunk the rest of the day, but was startled at hearing a knock on her door later that evening. She was even more surprised to see a sheepish-looking Lance standing there, holding a plate of peanut butter cookies, Hunk standing behind him, his large arms folded over his chest, looking neither pleased nor angry.

“I came to apologize,” Lance said.

“You mean Hunk made you come apologize,” Pidge snapped.

“No, the only thing Hunk made was these cookies, because, really, if I made them this apology would be going worse than it already is,” Lance said with a small shrug. “Look, I’m sorry I invaded your personal space. And embarrassed you. I know I messed up, but I just wanted you to know that I’m really sorry.”

She sighed.

She couldn’t avoid him forever…

And those cookies looked delicious…

“How’s your hand?” She asked.

“It’s fine,” Lance said.

“Have you eaten one of these cookies yet?” Pidge asked, plucking one off the plate.

“Um, no. They’re for you.” Lance said. “These are your favorite, right? I was pretty sure you said you liked peanut butter…”

“You’re not fine, because you haven’t eaten one of the cookies yet.” Pidge said. “So, eat a cookie and you’re hand will really be all better. Because cookies fix everything.”

With that, she took a bite out of the warm cookie in her hand.

Lance relaxed and grinned at that, also taking a cookie.

“Yeah, you’re right about that.” He said.

*

“Oh my quiznak…” Keith whispered. Then he bent over and started wheezing.

“Keith, are you okay?” Shiro asked.

“Shiro, I’m dying…” Keith said, laughing so hard he could barely breathe, but continued to speak. “This whole quiznaking time… the closest Lance has ever… ever gotten to any… any sort of action is… touching Pidge’s boob! I’m dying, but I’m dying happy, Shiro… Allura, if I don’t make it out of here, I want you to pilot the Red Lion!”

With that, Keith fell off the couch from laughing so hard.

“Holy quiznak, we broke Keith,” Hunk said with wide eyes.

“COMMANDER HOLT, SIR, I SWEAR I DID NOT AND DO NOT HAVE ANY INTENTIONS TOWARDS YOUR DAUGHTER, COMMANDER HOLT, SIR!” Lance yelled, already on his feet with a salute. “AND I’M NOT JUST SAYING THAT BECAUSE I’M SORT OF AFRAID OF YOU, SIR!”

“I’ve been on this ship less than a week and you’re afraid of me,” Commander Holt said, amused. “I’m actually a bit honored. Despite my best efforts, I’ve never had a cadet afraid of me before…”

“Gee, Dad, I wonder why. Maybe it has something to do with every conversation students have with you somehow circles back to how much you love your wife and kids and dog.” Matt said dryly. He turned to Hunk. “So that’s how you figured out Katie was a girl? Her reaction to being touched like that?”

“Well, that, and one other incident…” Hunk said.

*

Pidge showered at night as a rule. Something she had quickly and regrettably learned was that if the boys were going to shower at all, they showered in the morning. So half an hour before lights out, Pidge quickly snuck in to shower in relative peace. Clothes lying on the bench with her shower bag, she’d quickly pull boxers on with the towel still on, then put on a shirt facing away from the door, taking advantage of the fact that there weren’t any mirrors in the shower bay.

Well. Ninety-nine percent of the time, there was no one who showered at night…

She was just stepping out of the shower stall, wrapped up in a towel when she heard footsteps come towards the shower along with whistling.

Her eyes widened. There was no way she’d have enough time to get dressed that quickly. She rushed towards the bundle to grab to take towards the shower stall, but the towel slipped. She grabbed it just in time to readjust it as Lance—because of course it was Lance, by now she had just accepted that all these slip-ups were going to involve Lance—turn the corner.

“Oh, hey Pidge.” He said, setting his stuff down on the bench. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”

“What are you doing here?” Pidge snapped, then, because even she knew that was too harsh, she added, “I thought you showered in the morning?”

“I’ve got a test tomorrow in Advanced Aeronautics, and figured a shower would make a good study break and save time in the morning for last minute studying.” Lance said, as he casually started pulling off his clothes.

Pidge felt her face heat, grabbing her clothes.

“Okay, cool.” She said, avoiding looking at Lance, who was just in his own underwear now. “Yeah, so, good luck with all that…”

She headed towards the shower stall again and Lance said,

“You get dressed in the shower?”

“Uh, yeah?” Pidge said, trying to keep her voice even and unsqueaky.

“But wouldn’t your clothes get wet?” Lance asked as he started heating up his own shower.

“It’s fine.” Pidge said, still avoiding looking at him.

“Seems gross, and the opposite of what PJs should feel like after a shower.” Lance said, putting his hands on his hips. “You okay, buddy?”

“Yeah, just, I don’t really like to change in front of other people…” Pidge said.

“No offense, but I kind of figured.” Lance said, with a shrug.

“Uh, you did?” Pidge said, straightening some, turning at last to look at Lance, only to regret it because, oh shoot, he was taking off his underwear, nope, look away, look away…

“Yeah, I mean, you’ve got your towel covering just about everything there.” Lance said. She assumed there was some hand motion involved to gesture to ‘everything’, but she was Not Looking.

“I’ve got this birthmark,” She lied. “On my chest. It’s ugly and huge and I hate people looking at it. So, I cover it up. No big deal.”

“Dude, it’s fine, though you shouldn’t be ashamed about your body. But seriously, I won’t look if you don’t want someone to look. Besides, I’m getting in the shower now,” Lance said. Still Not Looking, she heard the sound of the shower curtain being pulled aside. “So, get dressed where it’s dry.”

“Thanks.” Pidge said. She listened for the sound of the curtain closing again, then released the deep breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding.

 _Okay, let’s get dressed and get out of here._ Pidge thought.

She quickly pulled on her boxers, then was getting ready to pull on the shirt when she heard the curtain move again and,

“Hey, Pidge, can you—”

Pidge did not scream.

But the sound she made was definitely not manly as she quickly pressed the t-shirt to her chest protectively, looking over her shoulder at Lance, who had his head stuck out.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” He said. “Can you hand me that green bottle?”

“Y-yeah, sure…” Pidge said, not moving.

There was an awkward moment of silence where neither of them moved and the only sound was the water.

“Um…” Lance said awkwardly. “Please?”

“Y-Yeah.” Pidge said, readjusting how the shirt was held to their chest. Shuffling awkwardly sideways, keeping her back towards Lance, she went over to the bench, grabbed the green bottle, then walked backwards until they felt like they were at a safe distance, reaching their arm back with the bottle, the other arm slung across their chest protectively.

“Um, thanks…” Lance said, taking the bottle. “But, uh, you know you could have put your shirt on first, right?”

Pidge wanted to scream.

“Right.” She said. “Okay. Yeah. Could have done that…”

“Okay…” Lance said, the curtain moving again. “Thanks, though.”

Pidge quickly pulled the shirt before anything else or anyone else could enter.

With that, she gathered her stuff and headed for the door, pausing before calling out,

“Goodnight, Lance. And good luck on your test.”

She was gone before Lance could answer.

Fifteen minutes later, Lance walked back into his dorm, setting his bag on his desk and snatching up his notecards before flopping on his bed.

“Had a good shower?” Hunk asked from where he laid on his bed, reading a textbook.

“Yeah. Was weird, though.” Lance said.

“How can a shower be weird?”

“The shower itself wasn’t weird. It was more the event of showering that was?”

“Uh, this sounds like it may be bordering into the territory of TMI, Lance.”

“No, no. It’s just… I ran into Pidge.” Lance said, shifting through the cards. “And he was acting weird.”

“Yeah?” Hunk said, glancing away from the book. “What do you mean?”

“Well, he didn’t want to change in front of me, but kept his chest covered. Says he’s got an ugly birthmark there. Anyways, he barely even looked at me. Like I said, the whole thing was weird.”

“Yeah,” Hunk said, dots starting to connect in his brain. The sudden departure from class, the tampons, the razor, not liking his chest being touched, or seen at all… A lightbulb flashed in his head. Oh... Pidge was trans, then, right? He decided to go out on a limb. “You, uh, think there’s a reason for it? I dunno, maybe other than this, um, birthmark?”

“I think so.” Lance said, setting aside the study cards, staring at the ceiling for a moment. “You know, Hunk, Pidge is kind of feminine. Almost dainty. Especially for a dude, even if he hasn’t hit puberty yet.”

“Yeah?” Hunk said.

“Yeah.” Lance said. Suddenly, he inhaled sharply, and sat up, looking at Hunk with wide-eyes. “Hunk. I figured it out. Why Pidge was acting so weird tonight, and before.”

“You did?” Hunk said, a bit relieved. Great, he wasn’t the only one.

“Yeah,” Lance said, nodding. He then looked very serious as he swung his legs over the side of his bed and said, “Pidge is gay.”

Hunk blinked.

He must have misheard.

“Pidge. Is gay?” He said.

“Yes, he’s gay. But I don’t think he’s out yet. Or knows he’s gay.” Lance said seriously. “Now, Hunk, it is our job as Pidge’s teammates to be supportive of him. Not judgmental. Help him on his path of self-discovery. He’s allowed to like whoever he likes, and we’re just going to have to help him realize that, and be his wingmen and beat up anyone who makes a smart comment, you hear me?”

Hunk closed his eyes and pressed his thumb between his eyes, taking deep breaths and for some reason feeling like he was going through all the stages of grief at one time. When he finally reached ‘acceptance’, he opened his eyes, closed his book, stood up and said,

“Yes, Lance. You’re right. We should be supportive of him. I just remembered I forgot something. I’ll be back before lights out.”

When Pidge opened her dorm door the next day, her eyes widened at seeing a small shoebox in front of the door, full of Reese’s, chocolate bars, and some of her other favorite snacks. Attached was an orange sticky note that read,

**I apologize on Lance’s behalf for what is to come. –H**

*

“That was the freakiest, creepiest note ever, by the way.” Pidge said. “But it explains why for the next week Lance kept pointing out all the gay guys in the cafeteria and making comments about them being attractive.” She turned to Lance. “I honestly thought you had officially struck out with absolutely every girl at the Garrison and were just moving on to the next thing you might stand a chance with flirting wise.”

“Wow.” Lance said flatly. “I try to be a good friend and wingman, and this is the thanks I get?”

“No, your thanks is that somehow, despite all odds, those incidents also endeared you to me, putting little hairline fractures into my heart of stone.” Pidge said, voice oozing sarcasm. Then, she grinned. “You are one of my dearest bosom buddies, Lance, the only of my friends who can claim that title. It happened the moment you touched my boob, it’s like a blood pact. A boob pact.”

“STOP!” Lance yelled, throwing a handful of popcorn at Pidge. “Either your dad, brother or Shiro is going to kill me in my sleep for that, or all three, and I am sorry! I wouldn’t have done it if I had known!”

Pidge laughed and plucked a piece of purple popcorn out of her hair, popping it into her mouth.

“Don’t worry, Lance,” She said, standing up and crossing over to his side of the couch. She sat beside him and put her arms around his neck. “Dad, Matt and Shiro are all well aware that if anyone or anything hurts you, it’s me they’ve got to answer to.”

“And the Blue Lion.” Coran added.

“Honestly, I’m more afraid of Pidge than the Blue Lion.” Shiro said.

“Yeah, I saw that bayard of hers in action, I don’t disagree.” Matt said.

“See, Lance?” Pidge said, giving him a grin. “You’re safe.”

“The way you say that does not bring me any comfort…” Lance said warily.

Pidge’s grin only grew.

“Good.” She said, patting him on the shoulder before retreating to her father’s side.

From where he lay on the floor, Keith broke out into fresh peals of laughter at seeing the look on Lance’s face.

For now Lance knew that he would never be able to sleep with two eyes closed again.

And was left to forever wonder what other dirt Pidge and-or Hunk might have on him…


End file.
